Long Week

The last week was a busy one. John and I got our formal pictures taken which was fun. It was fun to dress up and pretend it was our wedding day. :) I'm anxious and excited to see the finished product. We also went and took a few more engagement photos which was fun. I am almost pictured-out though. Hopefully by September I'll be ready for more pictures again! :)

Tonight we (my entire family) are making "poofs" for wedding reception decorations. I will post pictures later. It is funny to see my brother in laws and John doing crafts. They are all really good at it though. Some of the best poofs were made by the men!

Last night we went to a concert at UFOC starring the famous Marni Nixon. It was amazing! She is so talented. I can't even imagine doing all that she has done in her lifetime. I have so enjoyed getting dressed up and going out with John almost every night to the opera functions. I will definitely miss it when the end of the season comes. Hopefully I can find more excuses to get John into suits and tuxes. :)

My future mother in law and sister in laws also threw me a shower this week. It was really fun and we got some awesome stuff! I feel so blessed/spoiled! I can't wait to set up our apartment. I have already used one of my new cookbooks! John and I also purchased paint to paint the living room in our apartment which I'm excited about. We also found FREE carpet on KSL.com to replace the turquoise wonder-carpet we currently have. We had to drive to Holladay but it was definitely worth it. Things are starting to really fall into place!

P.S. This is the most un-chronological post in history.

I've decided...

I've decided that I have the most handsome fiance in the world. I actually have always known this to be true, but had it affirmed to me numerous times last night at the opera. John and I were invited by my dad to attend a gala/fundraiser dinner at Elements that was really fancy. So...I put on my fanciest dress and John borrowed my dad's tux. It was so much fun to show him off all night. I had random old ladies come tell me how handsome he was all night long. :) He was even given a "shoutout" from Miss Adelaide during one of her songs. Anyway, it was a fun night.

The last week was a rough one. I had my surgery Monday and felt pretty great that evening. The next morning I started to feel the effects of the knife and it progressively got worse throughout the week. Tonight is the first night I have felt pretty decent. Hopefully that means I'm on the uphill slope!

John and I get our formals taken tomorrow and I CANNOT wait! We picked out his tux yesterday and he is going to look so sharp. I'm also, of course, excited to wear my dress. Still need to figure out the hair situation. But wedding preparations are coming along nicely. I need to remember to step back and take in this wonderful time. I realize how easily I get caught up in planning and forget to just enjoy myself.

Anyway, life is good!

July 4th Weekend!

Wow what a crazy weekend! First of all, I just looked at my blog and realized that I am wearing the SAME outfit in most of the pictures I've posted. Friday was John's little sister, Lindsey's wedding and of course...I wore that same outfit. So, I will forever be remembered in their family pictures in that same outfit. Time to go shopping...or something! The wedding was fun. I went to bed the night before with an upset stomach which was only amplified in the morning so it was rough to spend a whole day smiling and being cheerful when I was concentrating on not throwing up. But it was important for me to be there and I think John appreciated it. Lindsey looked so amazingly beautiful. I'm so happy for her! John and I spent that night chatting and making a late, late night trip to McDonalds.

Saturday morning I woke up early for SoM's orchestra dress rehearsal. Things there went well except that one of my costumes was WAY too tight and I could hardly breathe at all. Luckily, my microphone has been moved to my thigh so I gained a few inches of costume around my waste. Hopefully tonight I can breathe enough to sing. After the dress rehearsal Vaness and I screamed home, changed and headed to Orem with my mom. We stopped first at Alysse's Bridal for me to pick up my dress. I was so relieved that it fit AND I could lift up my arms! Then we went to dinner and to the Hale Center Theater in Orem to see 110 in the Shade with AUDRA MCDONALD. No big deal. Just my favorite Broadway performer of all time. Just a few feet away from me. No big deal. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. She was so amazing. Ah! I could go on and on. I'm so lucky to have a dad who will spend the big bucks for me to have experiences like that. My mom and I drove home after the show and got to Logan around 1:45 am and to bed around 2:30.

The next morning we woke up early again and drove up to Bear Lake. John came and picked me up at my cabin and took me to spend the rest of the weekend with his family in Bloomington, ID. We had fun visiting, eating and playing games. It's crazy to me to have a new family. Definitely something that will take time for me to adjust to but they are great.

Yesterday we slept in and went boating with his family. Now this was a big deal for me because I don't usually do things involving water over 3 or 4 feet deep. I did enjoy it though, despite the sunburn I received on my shins and neck. When we got back to Logan we ate at Fredrico's and went to Aggie Ice Cream. Our fun night was topped off with two rousing games of Mormon Bridge. Overall it was a fun, but tiring weekend.

This week is opening week for UFOC which I'm excited about. I'm not sure if I'm more excited about watching the shows or just being done rehearsing Sound of Music. It has been great but I'm ready to move on. :) Anyway, that's about it. I guess I better post another picture of me in THAT outfit to go along with this post. Enjoy!

The Hills are Alive...almost!

Summertime is in FULL swing at the Ballam house. The operas open NEXT WEEK which is crazy to me. Things have been organized differently this year so we had tech rehearsal early but haven't rehearsed onstage since. I have mixed emotions about this. I like getting Tech Week over with but I am worried things will be rough tomorrow at our first dress rehearsal. i have 6 or 7 quick changes which will be exciting and stressful. Can't wait for the show to open so I can stop worrying about it!

Today I had the JOY of going to the OBGYN. Joy. I had expected that I was seeing a female nurse practitioner but when the doctor walked in not only was he male, he is my neighbor! AGH! It turned out I am glad it was him because he was really helpful. It turns out I am going to need surgery ASAP and I feel a lot more comfortable having him as my doctor. So that was a little TOO exciting. I hate doctors, IV's, blood, needles and all that jazz so I'll be glad when it is all over.

On a more pleasant note...this past weekend was the annual Israelsen Family Reunion. It is one of the few times I get to see most of my 100+ cousins and I look forward to it ALL year! I had rehearsal the first day but made it up in time to witness the Shasta Shootout (my favorite part). It was fun to have John with me and introduce him to the whole family. Hopefully he wasn't too overwhelmed. We are a pretty intense/crazy family but I think he can handle it :). I love my family SO much! I'm sad the reunion is over and I'll have to wait another year for it.
John and I got some of our engagements back and we are so pleased with the outcome! He is critical about how he looks but I think he looks so handsome! I am such a lucky girl! We are excited to see the rest of them. Wedding plans are coming right along. We don't have a ton left to do except take our formal pictures, order invites, find John a tux and that's about it! I'm getting really anxious and want it to be September already!

The Latest

The stress train has stopped at my door! Life is getting crazy now with weddings, summer camps and operas. I'm trying to stay positive about everything and enjoy it like I should. John and I purchased a couch and chair for our apartment. We took them over in Ester's truck and our new neighbors helped John move everything in. We also got our engagement pictures taken by Cascio Photography last night which was fun. John was a good sport and donned a bow tie and suspenders as well as pink socks :) My mom snapped a few shots of us before we left.
This week is going to be a long one. Since I never know my rehearsal schedule til the night before it is hard for me to make plans and organize my schedule for the week. It is hard for me because I always like to have a plan! Friday is the first day of our Israelsen Family Reunion which I look forward to all year. John has never been to the Israelsen cabin except on New Years so I'm excited for him to see it when it isn't covered in snow! Hopefully I'll have Saturday off so we can enjoy all the festivities!

Blah - g

I thought I'd better post a wedding-plan update. Most importantly...I found my dress! I had actually found it by my last post but hadn't purchased it. I'm really pleased with my decision and excited to actually get to wear it! The seamstress called yesterday and told me she finished the alterations so I just have to go try it on to make sure it fits. Unfortunately the store is in American Fork and with my crazy unpredictable rehearsal schedule it will be hard to find a time to make it down there. I'm hoping for Friday!

John and I were scheduled to shoot our engagements last Friday but unfortunately had to cancel due to the rain storm. Hopefully it will be bright and sunny next Monday so we don't have to cancel again! I don't love getting my picture taken so I'm glad that John has to do it with me ;) I'm also excited to get that part of wedding planning done. One less thing to worry about!

We also found an apartment! We looked at a bunch of apartments on West Center street that were pretty nice but really expensive. The main problem we had was our dog. Most places charge $100+ more per month for a pet or make you pay a huge pet deposit at signing. Luckily I checked KSL every day and found a little basement apartment for a really good deal. The ad said no pets but the landlord said our dog would be fine. We went to look at it and it is perfect for us! It is a small, one bedroom one bath basement apartment but it actually has a lot of windows so it is really light down there. I love everything about it except the turquoise and green carpet in the living room. :) It will be fun to decorate and have a little place of our own though. We went to the DI yesterday and purchased a coffee table and a painting (picked out by John). It makes me feel so old to be buying furniture!

The bridesmaid dresses came and they are perfect (just need sleeves) and I ordered John's ring yesterday. We also registered at BB&B which was interesting. Totally exhausting to me! It seems like we have so much planned already and now we'll just have to wait... and wait.

Life aside from that is good. I've just been rehearsing and planning. I'll be glad when the summer is over and I can sleep through the night!

I better not post without a picture so here's one of one of our favorite pass-times. Definitely the quickest way to blow a lot of money!

Beginning

Wow! What a crazy few weeks I've had! Being engaged sure isn't what I thought it would be. So far there are lots of things that I have enjoyed about being engaged. I must admit, I really love showing people my ring and my fiance. I am so proud of both :) I am the kind of girl who has been planning my wedding since I was 5 so that has been fun too. Though when I was 5 I didn't realize just how expensive weddings are. I HATE that part of wedding planning. Luckily we were able to book our perfect photographer for a bargain! To me the wedding pictures were top priority so I'm thrilled that we were able to get Cascio Photography to shoot our special day :)

The hardest part about this whole thing for me is choosing a dress. I have been to SO many stores and tried on so many dresses that my head is spinning with taffeta, silk and lace! The first 2 dresses that I tried on were by far my favorite. Though now I'm not sure if I really loved the dresses, or if I just loved the way I looked in them because they were the first ones I tried on (and the only ones that were actually my size). So... the final step in this process (I hope) is to drive back down to American Fork and try them back on! That is how I will be spending my evening tonight. Hopefully I will be able to make a decision. I don't think I can handle trying on any more big, poofy dresses!!!

My mom is a pro wedding planner so we have a lot already planned out. I have favors purchased, flowers picked out, engagement/formal shoots lined up, temple reserved, luncheon/reception venue reserved, flower girl dresses purchased, bridesmaid dresses purchased, slideshow and videographer lined up, and we meet with our caterer on Friday to finalize our menu for the luncheon and reception. Sounds like a lot but we still have much to do! Once I get the dress out of the way I'll feel a lot better about things. We have also had a struggle finding somewhere to live that is affordable AND pet friendly. My little dog is going to be costing us $100+ a month in rent I'm afraid. But oh how we love her! :)

Though it has been stressful to work things into our budget, wedding planning has been a lot of fun! I am lucky to have a fiance with an opinion. It makes decision making easier because I don't have to do it alone. Maybe that's why choosing my dress has been so tricky!

Anyway, that's the latest. Better not post without a picture so here are a couple from 2 weeks ago. John and I had a fun time staying with my brother Chris and his family for a few days. We were able to attend my niece, Ava's graduation which was a lot of fun. We also love any opportunity to drive down South so we can eat at In N Out! :)